Equipment for your Garden Pond
Lining a Pond
One of the most important aspects of pond construction is ensuring that you have enough pond liner. Having too little pond liner means you will need to rethink the size of your pond or you will have a pond that is not always watertight.
When measuring your pond you need to consider not just the length and width that you pond will take on the ground, but also the depth of the pond into the ground Meaning, you need to know the volume of the pond.
A good rule of thumb is to measure up then add a couple of feet to both measurements. This allows the rubber liner to sit slightly proud of the hole in the ground which ensures your pond water does not seep away.
Pond Filtration
Another essential part of building a pond is a good filtration system. Search pond filtration on the net you should find a good range to choose from.
But what is it you need out of a filtration system? To achieve an efficient biological surface you need to ensure the water that enters the filtration is rich in oxygen. This helps the friendly bacteria to oxidise the waste products through the nitrogen cycle. This is called aerobic filtration. Filter systems must fulfil the following criteria:
- The filter volume should be at least 10% of the ponds volume.
- You should be aiming to turn over at least half the ponds volume once per hour.
- The filter should have several chambers which can be which can be kept separate and emptied individually when cleaning. A vortex should be included.
- The biological surface area should be at least one square metre per ten cubic metres of pond water.
- Single celled algae cause green water; install an ultra violet clarifier to elimiate this.
There are two main filtration types. The first type of filter is called a gravity feed where water is removed from the pond via a bottom drain. Gravity then forces it through the filter which is sited buried in the ground close to your pond so that the water level in both your filtration and pond are the same. The water is then returned to the pond via a dry sited pond pump through an outlet in the side wall of the pond below the waterline. Because the biological surfaces will have depleted the oxygen during oxidisation of the waste products it is important at this stage to use a venturi on the outlet to oxygenate the returned water.
The second main filtration type and probably the more familiar is a pressurised feed filter. This involves an internal solid handling pump at the deepest part of the pond pumping water through a flexible pipe up to the filter which is sited above the surface level of the pond, which allows the water to return by the forces of gravity.
Water Pumps
Water gardens are at the mercy of bacteria, lack of oxygen and the settling of debris and dirt without a good pond pump. In circulating and oxygenating water continuouslyd a dependable pond pump can do wonders for maintaining a healthy environment and balanced ecosystem in your garden pond. Additionally, the water pump plays an important role in keeping humans and pets safe by helping to prevent unwanted insect pests from breeding and infesting the area. Find a wide range of pondpumps for any small pond application via good pond retailers.
If you are serious about creating a garden pond whether its for fish, wild life or to look nice, take a look for pond and aquatics retailers that not only sell the equipment but also {offer advice and after sales}provide good advice and after sales assistance.
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